A particular trend has caught the attention of fans for a while now – the conspicuous absence of white American players from the All-NBA teams over the past decade. This phenomenon stands in stark contrast to the rising prominence of white international players who have made significant impacts in the NBA.
Rex Chapman, a former NBA player with a career spanning 12 years, has offered his perspective on this issue. According to Chapman, the root of this disparity lies in cultural attitudes and early sports education. He suggests that in the United States, there is a cultural bias that discourages white children from pursuing basketball, steering them towards other sports like soccer, baseball, lacrosse, or tennis. This bias, he argues, is not present in Europe, where children are not dissuaded from playing basketball based on racial or cultural expectations.
Chapman also points to the differences in coaching approaches between the U.S. and Europe. In Europe, young athletes are coached rigorously from an early age, with a strong emphasis on understanding the game’s intricacies, such as time, score, and possession. This contrasts with the American system, where Chapman believes there is a tendency to coddle young athletes, particularly in the AAU circuits.
The result of these differences is that European players often arrive in the NBA with a level of discipline and understanding of the game that gives them an advantage. Chapman notes that European players find the NBA easier compared to their experiences playing professional basketball in Europe, where they are not coddled and are held to high standards from a young age.
“‘You can’t play that sport, it doesn’t suit your race.’ That’s not how [European players] are brought up. … That’s f***ed up.”
.@RexChapman explains why he believes there are so many good white international NBA players, but we haven’t seen a white American player named to an All-NBA team in 10 years:
“‘You can’t play that sport, it doesn’t suit your race.’ That’s not how [European players] are brought… pic.twitter.com/ihNybEaem3
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) March 22, 2024
